![]() The two found that they both enjoyed music from beyond the hip-hop genre, and specifically shared enthusiasm for the British electronic-pop band Portishead. Burton had already done production work for various Georgia-based artists and had released a pair of independent electronic albums using the name Pelican City. That group was formed by Brian Burton (born in White Plains, New York, on July 29, 1977), who soon after that took the name of the British television cartoon Danger Mouse for his stage name. When Goodie Mob appeared at the University of Georgia around 1998, they followed an opening act called Rhyme and Reason. ![]() Closely associated with the experimental and highly successful group Outkast, on whose album Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik they made their recorded debut, Goodie Mob offered positive lyrics to balance the violent images favored by Atlanta rappers working in the so-called Dirty South style. In 1991 he joined with a group of high school friends to form Goodie Mob, a hip-hop quartet that incorporated the playing of live instruments into their sound. Cee-Lo (born Thomas Calloway on May 30, 1974) was an Atlanta native, the son of two Baptist ministers. Gnarls Barkley extended their unorthodox eclectic vision with the 2008 release The Odd Couple, and were making plans for one more release after that.īefore their collaboration, the paths of both Cee-Lo and Danger Mouse led through the innovative hip-hop scene that flourished in the Atlanta, Georgia, area beginning in the 1990s. Elsewhere was not really a hip-hop release-or an electronic, rock, or R&B album, although it contained elements of all those genres. The Gnarls Barkley collaboration between a vocalist/lyricist and a beatmaking producer emerged from the world of hip-hop, a genre in which both artists had previously worked independently of each other. Elsewhere could have been seen coming a mile away.Gnarls Barkley, the duo of vocalist Cee-Lo and producer Danger Mouse, scored major hits in 2006 with their highly innovative single "Crazy" and album St. Although Gnarls Barkley topping the charts was a slight fluke, the excellence of St. Much like DJ Shadow's Private Press, Danger Mouse relies on samples from the downcast end of obscure '60s pop - prog, psych, and Italian soundtrack music (his most valuable lieutenant here, Daniele Luppi, has the requisite Italian connection). Even when he's floating another mass of wise, serene gibberish, DM simply drops another production trick to keep things tight. With the help of Danger Mouse's platinum ear and intricate vocal productions, Green is revealed as a top-notch post-millennial soul singer. The focus on instability doesn't end there - paranoia, suicidal tendencies, and multiple personalities are all in the cards, and there's also "Necromancer": "She was cool when I met her, but I think I like her better dead." Then, just to make sure listeners understand this is a concept album and not a message from a mind playing tricks on itself, they drop "The Boogie Monster" (although even the lyrics here can give pause: "I used to wonder why he looked familiar, and then I realized it was a mirror"). Over detached backings, Green croons, growls, scats, and generally delivers fine neo-soul vocals while Danger Mouse blankets the tracks with choruses of disembodied harmonies and a well-placed string section or crackling organ to conjure an appropriately minor chord atmosphere. ![]() The hit "Crazy" and the title track are perfect examples. The reasons for greatness here include DM's uncommon facility for writing (or sampling) simple hooks that stick, his creation of productions that entertain but don't detract from the main action, and his ability to coax a parade of enticing vocal performances from Green. Elsewhere is as good as Danger Mouse's two earlier landmarks ( Gorillaz's Demon Days and Danger Doom's The Mouse and the Mask), but not because of any inherent similarities in the three records. And if the vocal performances are twisted with the type of unbalanced wisdom not seen in pop music since Sly Stone (or at least OutKast), credit Cee-Lo Green, the former Goodie Mob seer/sage/freak. Elsewhere sounds like one of the best rap-based pop productions since the second Gorillaz album, then look no further than the common link, producer Danger Mouse. ![]() Who is Gnarls Barkley, and how did he ascend to the top of the British charts with a song that brings an eerie clarity to the cloud of mental illness? (Hint: It wasn't just the fact that Britain began factoring download data into its chart equations.) If St. ![]()
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